John Gordon Ross

Almost everyone uses language, so inevitably almost everyone thinks they are an expert in it. I don’t consider myself an expert, though most of my work requires at least language competence and sometimes actual skill, but I do follow the blogs featured on this feeds page.

(If you are wondering where the translation-related feeds have all gone, I have put them on their own page.)

Most of the blogs represented here are in English, most of the time, but don’t be surprised to find other languages used. Go with the flow – I occasionally find myself pleasantly surprised at how much I can grasp in languages I have never seen before.

Language On the Net

languagehat.com » Canonizing the Party-State Voice.

Friday 27 May 20:35:09 UTC 2016

I’ve just gotten to Chapter 6, “Canonization of the Party-State Voice,” of Michael S. Gorham’s 2003 Speaking in Soviet Tongues (see this post), in which, after describing the competing ideals of Russian language use that appeared after 1917 (the make-everything-new revolutionary, the peasant-oriented popular, and the imitate-the-classics national), Gorham focuses on the turn to the “party-state voice” that triumphed under … [Link]

Language Log » Ask Language Log: why is "whether or not" more frequent?

Friday 27 May 16:48:11 UTC 2016

Ton van der Wouden asks: The Google Ngram viewer shows a tenfold increase in the frequency of the string "whether or not". Can the readers of language log think of any explanation for this growth? Can it perhaps be traced back to some prescriptive source? Is it perhaps accompanied by a comparable decrease of the frequency of the variant with … [Link]

Language Log » Once more on the mystery of the national spelling bee

Friday 27 May 15:32:47 UTC 2016

Looks like this year's winners are again co-champions and of Indian (South Asian) origin. Guessing from their names, one of them has a Karnataka heritage and the other an Andhra background. Quoting from "National spelling bee ends in a tie for third consecutive year" (USA Today, 5/27/16): For the third year in a row, the Scripps National Spelling Bee has … [Link]

Language Log » Any sufficiently antique technology…

Friday 27 May 7:13:37 UTC 2016

Maybe staged, but still amusing: Update — I should add that the dining room at the restaurant last night was decorated with shelves full of antique devices, including telegraph units, sewing machines, typewriters, and a transistor radio. [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » Bad Plug

Friday 27 May 7:00:00 UTC 2016

When you thought you were charging your phone but you actually weren't My phone still has no juice, prolly had a bad plug last night. [Link]

Language Log » Xi Jinping and his rookery

Friday 27 May 2:23:35 UTC 2016

Bruce Humes saw this on NYT’s bilingual website in an article today entitled "China’s Leader Wears Many Hats, but Only One Jacket"*: In summer, Mr. Xi follows tradition and wears a long-sleeved white shirt and dark trousers when mixing with ordinary folks. When accompanying officials follow suit, as they often do, they call to mind a rookery of emperor penguins. … [Link]

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